CBAF holds third tournament of the season with similar results
The CBAF group held their third tournament of the season at Lake McClure on Saturday February 24, 2007. This was the first time that CBAF visited Lake McClure and the second time Lake Don Pedro Baptist hosted the awards and lunch.
Winter storms had ravaged northern California for the week prior leading up to the event. In fact, it was snowing just the Thursday night before in Oakdale. With the cold temperatures, the 30 anglers were questioning what to present the finicky spotted bass that populates McClure’s deep clear waters.
We all felt like the big winners when we saw D.J. bring his bag to the scale. A nice bag that won he and his Dad 6th place honors. It was his first tournament with his dad, Dan Sexton, and both of them were so proud. Dave Tencati added “This is the kind of thing that makes us all thrilled to be part of the CBAF. Dad and sons, husbands and wives, fishing together helps strengthen family relationships and often gives kids memories they will never forget.”
Two-time CBAF champion David Neal of Fresno and partner Chris Jones captured first place with a solid bag of spotted bass weighing 10.16lbs. David Neal understands spotted bass very well and considers Pine Flat reservoir his home waters. Using this experience, he captured 1st place at the CBAF Oroville event and again here at McClure. Neal stated, “I caught them primary using Lefty’s Jigs fishing depths from 2 to 30 feet”. Color also seemed to be important, with the majority of the bites coming on brown. Covering water was extremely important, and Neal stated that the key was to fish deeper during the morning and move shallower during the day.
When asked about the fishery of McClure, Neal stated “We’re very comfortable fishing this lake.” With the similar water clarity and fish movements, it’s no doubt that David and Chris were favorites heading into the event. For their efforts, the team earned $576 and beautiful custom plaques.
The second place team of Discovery Bay neighbors Jimmy Ghiorso and Sal Herrera dropshotted their limit weighing 9.46lbs, anchored with the big fish of the event at 2.99lbs, caught by Herrera on a drop shot rig. “We fished mainly one arm of the lake that had good concentrations of bait and depth. We got a limit pretty quick on worms and threw boulders for a while but no hits came from them” stated Ghiorso. Boulders? That’s what Ghiorso calls big trout swimbaits, referring to the large splash they make when they enter the water. For a pair of delta anglers, coming to McClure is a treat. Herrera added, “Man, I love coming to McClure, especially in May when we catch a fish on every cast. It’s so much fun and a departure from fishing on the Delta.” The delta duo came home with $288 for second place and an additional $200 for big fish.
The third place team made recent history and a lot of commotion by weighing a 5 fish limit weighing over 40lbs on the delta the week prior. This team was none other than Discovery Bay residents Brian Roland and partner Mike Bryant. Proving their angling prowess, they weighed a limit of spotted bass weighing 9.41lbs from McClure’s deep clear waters. Roland told the crowd that “he started off tossing a trout swimbait. I caught one over 2lbs on it and continued to throw it while Mike filled our limit with darter head worms.” The team took home $196 for third place and 2nd big fish.
Rounding out the top 5 were CBAF’s own Richard Kong and Mike Hancock in fourth place with a limit weighing 8.93lbs. Fifth place went to Sacramento angler Tim Dotson and partner Dan Dutcher with a limit weighing 8.68lbs.
Following the weigh-in, the anglers met at Don Pedro Baptist church, where anglers were treated to a fantastic Tri-tip meal with all the trimmings. Pastor Hans concluded the ceremony by reminding everyone, “You will have a first cast, and a last cast in life. What’s important is what you decide and do in between them.”
The next CBAF event is the Honor Bound event at Folsom Lake, April 21st. Special thanks goes to all the manufacturers, sponsors, and Super Star supporters that make these events possible.
For more information about CBAF, log onto www.thecbaf.com or call Paul Baker at 209-852-0157.
